A lot of bulky desk top devices having some optics means and noisy motor means to get images to the walls or ceiling are available in the marketplace. None of these devices have a compact size, light weight, or low cost.
According to one embodiment of the current invention, an image projector is provided for displaying a desired image, message, time, geometric art, nature scene, galaxy, milky way, sky, cloud, stars, moon, water-wave, aurora light, animal, characters, cartoon, sign, logo, or commercial on a desired surface and which has a compact size with light weight to allow people to achieve plug-in installation to any outlet device, such as a wall outlet, extension cord, power strip, outlet device.
A plug-in outlet or USB port allows easy connection with a power source without the disadvantages of an AC wired connection, an adaptor with a wired connection, or a transformer with a wire device, in which the wires are very difficult to handle and may cause people to fall down or be touched.
In addition, the plug-in outlet or USB port serves as an unlimited power source, unlike market-available models which are battery operated for desk top applications and which as a result require frequent change of battery to supply enough electricity for a plurality of LEDs, which may need hundreds of milliamps of current to per hour.
Consequently, the current invention, which is arranged to be plugged into outlets or USB ports, represents a big improvement over market-available desk top LED or laser light devices with wired connections or battery units. It is still possible to include a motor, rotating means, or magnet and magnetic-coil to provide moving effects, but in that case it may be necessary to use a wired power source, which will cause the consumer to fall down and is too risky for desk top installation, so it is preferred use direct plug-in to an outlet or a USB means with no wires.
According to a third preferred embodiment, the current invention may use an alternative design to create moving effects without the need to use a motor, or rotating magnetic and magnetic-coil means, in order to reduce costs, i.e., the LED does not use any motor means to create the changeable image, message, time, geometric art, nature scene, galaxy, milky way, sky, cloud, stars, moon, water waves, animal, characters, cartoon, sign, logo, commercial.
According to a fourth preferred embodiment, a big improvement provided by the current invention is to have all moving or motion effects made by a plurality of LEDs' sequential flashing, fade-in and fade-out, color changing, sequential, random, or other LED light performances or effects by turning individual LEDs on and off with a time difference, duration, or duty cycle and cause the resulting image to appear as if it were moving.
According to a fifth preferred embodiment, a more advanced improvement is to generate a shaped image, message, time, geometric art, nature scene, galaxy, milky way, sky, cloud, stars, moon, water-wave, aurora light, animal, characters, cartoon, sign, logo, or commercial from at least one or more optics means having a preferred texture, opening, cutouts, holes, or shape and a steady LED light beam with rotating or non-rotating means. The preferred embodiments of the current invention may utilize features disclosed in the inventor's copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/023,889, filed Sep. 11, 2013; Ser. No. 14/323,318; filed on Jun. 26, 2014 and Ser. No. 12/938,564, filed Nov. 2, 2014; and U.S. Pat. No. 7,455,444 (more than one LED light source); U.S. Pat. No. 7,632,004 (more than one optic means); and U.S. Pat. No. 8,277,087 (more than one reflective means to create multiple visible image).
The current has subject matter in common with the inventor's following copending applications: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/024,229 (LED light has kaleidoscope means); Ser. No. 13/021,124 (LED light having changeable image and pattern by kaleidoscope means to project to surfaces); Ser. No. 12/710,918 (LED light having more than one reflector means), now U.S. Pat. No. 8,277,087, the arrangement of which may be utilized in the current by providing a kaleidoscope means having more than one reflective means that uses a mirror or mirror-like means assembled into the kaleidoscope means; Ser. No. 11/806,284 (LED light having more than one optic means), now U.S. Pat. No. 7,632,004, which discloses an arrangement that may be utilized by the current invention by applying the more than one optics means in front of or in back of back of a kaleidoscope means to create, adjust, magnify, reduce, or enlarge an image, LED light beams, or an LED lights' shape, the optics means including any combination of an optics lens, optics mirror, laser hologram, laser grating film, or optics assembly.
The inventor's U.S. Pat. No. 7,455,444 discloses an LED light having more than one LED light source, the current invention also capable of utilizing more than one LED in a matrix arrangement with circuit means, IC means, sensor means, switch means, brightness control means, color mixing means, color selection means, color freeze means, motor means, gear means, and turn-on/turn-off means to cause a certain number of LEDs to be turned-on with desired colors, brightness, light brightness output, light functions, matrix combinations, motor means, rotating means, and/or gear set means to cause light to pass through the kaleidoscope means and optics means to achieve desired light patterns.
Other U.S. patent applications of the inventor include U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/948,953; 12/938,564; 12/886,832; 12/876,507 [12/771,003; 12/624,621; 12/914,584; 12/318,471; 12/318,470; and Ser. No. 12/834,435; 12/292,153 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,871,192); Ser. No. 12/232,505 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,917); and Ser. No. 12/318,473 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,832,918), Additional patent applications of the inventor that disclose projection lights include U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/624,621 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,303,150); Ser. No. 12/771,003 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,408,736); Ser. No. 12/876,507 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,083,377); Ser. No. 12/886,832; 12/938,564; 12/948,953; and Ser. No. 13/021,107.
Furthermore the inventor also has copending U.S. patent applications for light devices having interchangeable power sources for AC wall outlets and DC energy storage means, including all kinds of combinations selected from prong means, extension cords, adaptors, transformers, solar or wind power, batteries, chemical power, and biological power, all of which can be interchanged to provide AC or battery power in any desk top or plug in type projection light device having a built-in kaleidoscope means. The inventor's interchangeable power source applications U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/318,473 and 12/940,255 (now U.S. Pat. No. 8,231,246).
The current invention thus may utilizes principles and structures from a variety of the inventor's patents or copending patent applications, such as: (1) a projection light device; (2) more than 1 optics means; (3) more than 1 LED; (4) more than 1 reflective means; (5) interchangeable power sources; (6) laser means; (7) adjustable focus and position changing; and (8) use of a motor and gear set for image adjustment and moving.
This application also has subject matter in common with U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 12/710,561; 12/711,456; 12/771,003; 12/624,621; 12/622,100; 12/318,471; 12/318,470; 12/318,473; 12/292,153; 12/232,505; 12/232,035; 12/149,963; 12/149,964; 12/073,095; 12/073,889; 12/007,076; 12/003,691; 12/003,809; 11/806,711; 11/806,285; 11/806,284; 11/566,322; 11/527,628; 11,527,629; 11/498,874; 12/545,992; 12/806,711; 12/806,285; 12/806,284; 12/566,322; 12/527,628; 12/527,629; 12/527,631; 12/502,661; 11/498,881; 11/255,981; 11/184,771; 11/152,063; 11/094,215; 11/092,742; 11/092,741; 11/094,156. 11/094,155. 10/954,189; 10/902,123, 10/883,719; 10/883,747; 10/341,519; 12/545,992; and 12/292,580.
In particular, the following applications show light devices that have at least some features in common with included or optional features of the LED light device of the present invention: Ser. No. 12/710,561 (“LED power failure Light”); Ser. No. 12/711,456 (“LED light device has special effects”); Ser. No. 12/771,003 (“LED light device has more than 1 reflective means for plurality of image”); Ser. No. 12/624,621 (“projection device or assembly for variety of LED light”); Ser. No. 12/622,000 (“Interchangeable Universal Kits for all LED light”); Ser. No. 12/318,471 (“LED night light with pinhole imaging”); Ser. No. 12/318,470 (“LED night light with Projection features”); Ser. No. 12/318,473 (“LED night light with laser or hologram element”); Ser. No. 12/292,153 (“LED night light with Projection or imaging features”); Ser. No. 12/232,505 (“LED night light with Projection features”); Ser. No. 12/149,963 (“Removable LED light device”); Ser. No. 12/149,964 (“Surface Mounted Device with LED light”); Ser. No. 12/073,095 (“LED Track light device”); Ser. No. 12/073,889 (“LED light with changeable position with Preferable power source”); Ser. No. 12/007,076 (“LED light with changeable geometric system”); Ser. No. 12/003,691 (“LED light with changeable geometric dimension features”); Ser. No. 12/003,809 (“LED light with changeable features”); Ser. No. 11/806,711 (“Multiple LED light with adjustable angle features”); Ser. No. 11/806,285 (“LED Night light with outlet device”); Ser. No. 11/806,284 (“LED Night light with more than 1 optics means”); Ser. No. 11/527,628 (“Multiple function Night light with air freshener”); Ser. No. 11/527,629 (“LED Night light with interchangeable display unit”); Ser. No. 11/498,874 (“Area illumination Night light”); Ser. No. 11/527,631 (“LED Time piece night light”); Ser. No. 12/545,992 (“LED time piece Night light”); Ser. No. 12/292,580 (“LED Time Piece Night light”); Ser. No. 11/498,881 (“Poly Night light”); Ser. No. 11/255,981 (“Multiple light source Night Light”); Ser. No. 11/184,771 (“Light Device with EL elements”); Ser. No. 11/152,063 (“Outlet adaptor with EL”); Ser. No. 11/094,215 (“LED night light with liquid medium”); Ser. No. 11/094,215 (“LED Night light with Liquid optics medium”); Ser. No. 11/092,741 (“Night light with fiber optics”); Ser. No. 10/883,747 (“Fiber Optic light kits for footwear”); Ser. No. 11/498,874 (“Area Illumination for LED night light”); Ser. No. 11/527,629 (“Time Piece with LED night light”); Ser. No. 11/527,628 (“Multiple Function Night light with Air Freshener”); Ser. No. 11/806,284 (“LED Night light with more than one optics mediums”); Ser. No. 11/806,285 (“LED Night Light with multiple function”); and Ser. No. 11/806,711 (“Multiple LEDs Light with adjustable angle function”).
The applications of the inventor in general all apply physics or optics theory to a night light supplied with power from an outlet, battery, solar, or other power source. The present invention uses the physics or optics theory to create a plurality of LED light images on a surface. More specifically, the current invention uses more than one reflective means to transform a single LED spot light into a plurality of images on a surface to be seen by viewer. The principles of the invention may be applied to night lights of various types, including night lights disclosed in the above-listed patents and patent applications of the inventor, which may be powered by a variety of power sources, such as an outlet, batteries, solar, wind, or chemical power sources.
Because of the persistence of vision effect, caused by the human eye response time of more than 1/24 (41,67) to 1/16 (0.0625) seconds, when an object moves faster than the human eye response time, the last image will stay in the human eye and brain for an extended period of time. This theory can utilized to save power by causing an LED or LEDs to flash with a very short on-time of around 10 msec or less. This principle is similar to that of a motion picture in which, if an object in front of human eye is displayed in 16-24 pictures per second, people will think all pictures are continuous. Hence, the current invention uses a related circuit, control means, IC, and/or micro controller to cause an LED light device to blink at a rate that is much faster than 16-24 times (cycles) per second, with the LED or LEDs being turned on for 10% of each cycle and off for 90% of the cycle to save up to 90% of power consumption or increase battery life by nine times more than the full steady-ON condition. This is a significant power saving for all battery power source applications. It will be appreciated that new LEDs may be coming soon to enable the LEDs to have an even quicker response time of less than 10 msec, and possibly less than 5 msec or 2 msec, to provide even greater power saving. such adjustment of the duration of each cycle's turn-on and turn-off duration time will cause even more power saving to meet the green world concept. This is one of the very important concepts of the current invention.
Further cost saving can be achieved in the case of a battery powered unit by using a circuit with proper electric components, parts, and accessories to raise the voltage output of the batteries to trigger the LED or LEDs even though the number of batteries is less than that normally required to generate the required voltage. This can counter the tendency of people to use a large quantity of batteries and save substantial cost, which is another important advantage of the current invention.
A preferred embodiment of the current invention includes an LED night light with more than one reflective means within the geometrically shaped optics means to enable a plurality of LED light beams to pass through, reflect.
The LED night light includes at least one LED arranged inside a partially transparent geometric optics means having more than one reflective means, and at least one second reflective means within the geometric optics means which can reflect an LED light beams from its surface to the first or other reflective surfaces back and forth so that some LED light beams are reflected and travel within the optics means and other LED light beams pass through a partially transparent optics means to the outside.
In this embodiment, a plurality of the LED beams can project outside through a surface(s). Furthermore, at least one of the reflective means may be partially transparent so that a plurality of light beams pass through from the surfaces thereof, while another plurality of LED light beams is reflected retro-reflected within another reflector means and passes through some other surface(s).
The LED or LEDs of this embodiment are preferably connected with circuit means, power means, contact means, conductive means, switch means, sensor means, motor means, spin means, rotating means, gear set means, speed control means, printed circuit means, integrated circuit (I.C.) means and/or related parts and accessories to cause the LED or LEDs to turn on and off according to a predetermined time period, functions, colors, and/or effects to provide a desired lighting performance.
In the above-described preferred embodiment, the reflective means may be a mirror, chrome finished piece, polished piece, double-sided mirror, or any surface having reflective properties that permits light beams to pass through both optical elements of the current invention.
The partially transparent or see-though properties can be provided by a transparent piece, colored transparent piece, or any other piece that allows light beams to pass therethrough. A power source of this embodiment can be in the form of an outlet, batteries, solar power, chemical power, or wind power.
The LED or LEDs can be selected from any combination of single color, multiple color, multiple piece, standard, and special LED assemblies. The LEDs can be any number from 1 to N (N can be any number) arranged in a desired matrix or spacing.
Finally, the distance, position, and/or orientation of the reflective means may be changed based on the selected geometric shape of the optics means. The LED arrangement for different LED numbers, positions, colors, IC chip, control means, circuit means, functions, and brightness to create a desired plurality of light patterns, shows, color changing, image changing, or moving effects to be seen by people on surrounding surfaces including walls, a ceiling, a floor, or any other desired surface(s).
The geometric optics means can have any shape with multiple constructions and combination of elements selected from a light transmitting lens, reflective lens, convex lens, concave lens, laser lens, and hologram lens on an inner or outside surface or on all sides to provide desired light effects.
According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, an LED light device having power saving features includes at least one LED or LEDs for a light source, at least one housing having space to install circuit means, conductive means, electric components parts and accessories, switch means, sensor means, an integrated circuit (IC), and/or a micro controller to connect with a conventional market-available power source to cause the LED or LEDs to turn on and turn to provide predetermined functions or effects, with a predetermined duty cycle, color, and/or brightness.
The power-saving features are obtained by using the control means to cause the LED or LEDs turn-on for only a certain percentage of each cycle. In particular, the turn on time is selected to meet the persistence of vision of the human eye, so as to take advantage of the human eye's response time of 1/24 to 1/16 second so that the blinking LED or LEDs looks as if it were continuously on.
According to yet another embodiment of the invention, an LED light device having cost saving features includes at least one LED or LEDs as a light source, at least one housing having space to install circuit means, conductive means, electric components parts and accessories, switch means, sensor means, an integrated circuit (IC), and/or a micro controller to connect with a conventional market-available power source, preferably batteries, to cause the LED or LEDs to turn on and turn off according to a predetermined function or effects, duty cycle, color, and/or brightness.
In this embodiment, cost saving is obtained by providing batteries having a total voltage that is less than the LED trigger voltage and by providing electric components and related parts and accessories to increase the voltage output of the batteries to greater than the LED trigger voltage.
As noted above, the current invention uses geometrically shaped optics-means having built-in more than one reflective or refraction means to create a plurality of LED light beams that pass through or are reflected or retro-reflected by the more than one. The relative distance, position, and/or orientation of the more than one reflective means (and optional additional) reflective means will result in different light beam performance. This is a very low cost and simple way to make a splendid and eye catching light projection unit for people, and which may incorporate any desired power source such as a battery, USB power, outlet power, generator power, chemical power, solar power, wind power or another equivalent power source from the marketplace.